Privacy Policy and Legal Disclaimer

Privacy Policy and Legal Disclaimer

Austin Kenna recognizes the importance of protecting personal information and an individual’s right to privacy. This policy outlines Austin Kenna’s procedures regarding its collection, use, retention and disclosure of personal information in respect of its clients and others, and supplements, where applicable, our professional obligations of confidentiality and solicitor/client privilege.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to any third-party websites which may be accessible through links from this website. Austin Kenna is not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such websites. We encourage you to review their privacy policies before submitting any personal information.

PIPEDA

As of January 1, 2004, all Canadian organizations engaged in commercial activities must comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA“) and the Canadian Standards Association Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information incorporated by reference into PIPEDA. These obligations extend to lawyers and law firms, including Austin Kenna.

What personal information do we collect?

We may collect and process different types of personal information in the course of operating our business and providing our services. These include:
  • Personal information such as first and last name;
  • Contact information, physical address, email address and telephone number;
  • Biographical information such as job title, employer, photograph and video or audio content;
  • Billing and financial information such as billing address, bank account and payment information;
  • Services information such as details of services that we have rendered to you;
  • Recruitment information such as your resume, your education and employment history, details of professional memberships and other information relevant to potential recruitment or association to or with Austin Kenna;
  • Website usage and other technical information such as details of visits to our websites or information collected through cookies, your interaction with our online advertising and content and other tracking technologies;
  • Identification and other background verification data such as a copy of a driver’s licence, passports or utility bills or evidence of beneficial ownership or the source of funds to comply with anti-money laundering laws and collected as part of our client acceptance and ongoing monitoring procedures;
  • Any other personal information provided. Please note that if you provide personal information to us about other people (such as your customers, directors, officers, shareholders or beneficial owners), you must ensure that you have given those individuals an appropriate notice that you are providing their information to us and have obtained their consent to that disclosure.

How do we collect your personal information?

We collect your personal information only by lawful and fair means and only with your consent or as required or permitted by law. Whenever possible and appropriate, we collect your personal information from you directly or from persons whom you have requested to provide us with information.

How do we use your information?

We may use your personal information for the following purposes:
  • To provide legal and related services
  • To conduct conflict searches, in order to determine if we can represent you
  • To administer client accounts
  • To fulfill our legal and professional obligations, including client identification and verification rules and other requirements of applicable provincial law societies
  • To manage our business, including fulfilling contractual obligations and auditing our operations
  • To detect and prevent negligence, fraud and theft
  • To evaluate client satisfaction
  • To provide you with marketing and other information about our services and about developments in the law
  • To invite you to our functions and events and to communicate with you generally, including for business development purposes

Disclosure of your personal information

Subject to our professional obligations of confidentiality, Austin Kenna will only disclose your personal information for purposes related to providing services to you, or with your express consent, or if required or authorized by law. We may also disclose your personal information to third parties if we merge or reorganize.

Consent

By providing us with personal information, you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of information relating to providing our services, managing our relationship with you, administering our business, and as permitted or required by law, in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

We will seek your consent as required by law before using personal information for any purpose beyond the scope of your original consent. You may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal and contractual restrictions and reasonable notice. Please note, however, that withdrawing consent may affect our ability to serve you and maintain our relationship.

Security of your personal information

Consistent with our professional obligations, it has always been the policy of the firm to exercise the utmost discretion regarding the information our clients entrust to us.

We have implemented physical, administrative and technological safeguards to protect your personal information from loss, unauthorized access, modification or disclosure.

However, no method of transmitting or storing information is completely secure. While we take appropriate measures to protect your personal information, there is always a risk that it may be lost, intercepted, or misused. We make no warranty with respect to the integrity of any electronic communications between us and you or with respect to the security of any such communication, and you consent to our exchange of electronic communications, including confidential documents, unencrypted.

Retention of your personal information

We only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes identified in this Privacy Policy or as long as required for our legal or business purposes.

Changes

We reserve the right to make changes to our Privacy Policy at any time without advance notice. Should any new policy go into effect, it will be available on the Austin Kenna website.

Legal Disclaimer

Contacting Austin Kenna via its website does not constitute a solicitor/client relationship of any kind. Any correspondence entered here shall not to be construed as legal advice, but merely as providing a vehicle to contact Austin Kenna in a direct and timely fashion. Confidential documentation or information should not be sent to the firm electronically until a retainer has been confirmed.